Chef Chat: Kevin Shinn

Kevin Shinn nourished souls for 15 years as a campus pastor in Lincoln. In 2007, he began to nourish bodies, too, as the chef and co-owner of Bread & Cup in Lincoln.

Shinn, 46, opened the restaurant with his wife, Karen, who manages the front of the restaurant. He is originally from Bartlesville, Okla., but now considers Lincoln home.

Q. How did you get interested in cooking?

A. I love to know how things work, how things are made. I love watching something go from an idea to a finished product. Gardening is an interest of mine because you plant this seed in the ground and a few months later you're eating something that looks far different.

Cooking is the same way: You take that basic product and you apply some skill to it and an idea, and you come up with a pleasurable product that people can enjoy.

Q. Is your restaurant your first commercial cooking experience?

A. Yes. I waited tables in graduate school. I worked part-time for a caterer. And I hosted a lot of people in our home. The general wisdom is “Don't turn your hobby into your profession.” I believe the exception is when people enjoy you enjoying your hobby.

Q. How did you learn to cook? Any mentors?

A. I grew my own cherry tomatoes when I was 10 or 11 years old. We ate with the season. I knew when sweet corn came in and when tomatoes came in because I grew them.

One of my warmest memories of my grandmother: I was about 7 years old, visiting her in rural Oklahoma. We picked green beans all morning. We sat on her neighbor's porch and snapped green beans all afternoon. That was an indelible memory, watching my grandmother and her neighbor talk and can green beans. When I grew to have my own home, one of the first things I did was plant a garden and cook from that garden.

When I got serious about opening this restaurant, I drew on that heritage. That influenced how I planned my menu and created offerings for my customers. My evening menu changes four times a week.

In the growing season from May to October, on Saturday nights, our menu is driven directly by the (nearby Haymarket) Farmers Market, what's available that day. I choose vegetables and fruits directly from the vendors in the market. Usually three to five courses. Saturday nights in the winter we call the “Best of Nebraska,” and we serve locally sourced beef, pork, chicken or lamb.

Q. Do you have a favorite kitchen tool or cookbook?

A. An immersion blender. To create depth and volume, we will make a vegetable base and purée it. It will be creamy and I can get a nice, full-bodied soup that is not reliant upon fat or stock. We have a black bean soup that we'll puree until it's velvety smooth.

Q. Do you have a favorite cooking technique?

A. Probably braising. I love taking a tough cut of meat — maybe beef shanks in some red wine, tomatoes, stock and mirepoix — and coming back the next morning. I love how it breaks something down and creates a wonderful flavor.

Q. What's new at your restaurant?

A. We're in the middle of what we call the slow-meal season: a three-hour dinner, usually five to seven courses. It's a reservation-only event. We can only do it in the winter because life is a little slower and colder. We do four of these events, and we usually create a theme for it. We tell our customers you're here for the evening. You're in our hands to lavish upon you an evening of food and conversation.

Q. Just four?

A. Yes. January through April. By May, we're ready to start our farmers market (meals).

Q. What's next for you?

A. One of my favorite things to do in the winter is to teach my sourdough bread class. I love teaching, and I'd love to do that regularly. We're all drawn to things we love.

Q. Teaching sounds like going back to preaching.

A. It's very similar. You have an idea you believe in and you love to share. Now it's in the form of bread rather than a sermon.

Contact the writer:

444-1052, jane.palmer@owh.com

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